Does Election Show Power Of Media & Marketing?

If you think about it, the recently concluded election put a few marketing truths to the test.

For instance, the idea that money can buy you influence and power only worked for one side when it came to the battle for the White House. Each side spent over a billion dollars to wrestle control of the government. Apparently it wasn't enough. Things stayed virtually unchanged. Obama remained in the Oval Office, the Democrats retained the Senate and Republicans kept the House of Representatives.

Another growing assumption is that all you need to win over voters or customers is to market to them online. However, perhaps because the electorate is so diverse, no one media seemed to dominate, though one may argue that TV got a huge share of the advertising budget from the parties and candidates.

Marketing a mediocre product can sell that product better than a good product would sell without a marketing budget. This seems to be generally true, but again, when it comes to the voters, some voted contrary to the blitz of media ads coming at them because their ideology or beliefs were stronger than any 30-second attack ad.

Polls can be wrong. It turns out they were fairly accurate in predicting things but the media likes to dramatize the election the way weathermen like to hype an upcoming storm. The race was seemingly close in the popular vote and in certain battleground states, but the electoral college landslide leaves a different impression.

Certainly one thing authors and publishers can conclude from election politics: the news media likes controversy, winners and losers, new ideas, familiar personalities, and making predictions. Pitch them ideas and story angles that play into their mindset -- not just about politics, but anything. And if that doesn't work, tell them you have a story idea about 2016. They cannot wait to get started covering the next election